Has Anyone Seen My Unstoppable Juggernaut? -- Florida 23, Tennessee 13
by cocknfire on Sep 19, 2009 7:31 PM EDT
in SEC Football
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PrintThe danger for Florida in this week's game against Tennessee was that they wouldn't be able to match the hype, that they would fall short of the lofty expectations of winning by several TDs and silencing Lane Kiffin. Wouldn't you know, that's exactly what happened.
Make no mistake about it -- as they say, a win is a win is a win. Florida's quest to go undefeated and win back-to-back national titles remains on track after taking care of Tennessee. And a 10-point conference victory is nothing to be scoffed at.
But the Gators were far from dominating Saturday's game. It wasn't like there was ever any doubt about who was going to win -- other than having tied the score for about five minutes early on, the Vols never came close to taking the lead. It was a solid, unspectacular win, something that is only disappointing if you expect to set your opponent ablaze in response to his cheeky comments.
Consider that Florida only gained 322 yards of total offense in this game; that Tim Tebow didn't throw for a single TD; that no Gator had even 30 yards receiving. Tell me that's what you expected in this game, and I'll either call you clairvoyant or a liar, depending on your evidence.
A good deal of the credit goes to the Tennessee defense. Monte Kiffin showed that his NFL pedigree will not prove an impediment to stopping college offenses like the spread. Tebow was often under pressure or under wraps, limiting his ability to make plays, and none of the other Gator stars were able to step up to their normal level of production in big games.
There's not a column for moral victories in the standings, and Tennessee still has several teams on the schedule that are more than willing to deliver the blowout Florida couldn't if they get the opportunity. There was, after all, nothing in Saturday's game that would lead one to believe that the Vols have fixed any of their many problems on offense. Jonathan Crompton completed just a bit more than half his passes and threw two interceptions while Tennessee gained only 210 total yards.
But Florida lost a little bit of its aura of inevitability in this game. And not just because of Lane Kiffin's insufferable mouth -- put simply, Florida should be better than Tennessee no matter what the Vols coach said. Maybe they were just trying too hard; in fact, that has to be what the Gators faithful are hoping for tonight.
Because otherwise, there just might be a blueprint for containing Florida on defense. And there might be a team with a functioning offense that's reading it.
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I don’t think Florida was “trying too hard” – quite the opposite. Up until the fumble, the game was following the same script for UF as last year’s – play conservative and grind out the win over a less-talented and offensively limited opponent that can’t beat you unless you give it the chance. Now, UF had its share of bobbles on both sides of the ball (part of the point of playing conservatively, Mr Tebow, is to limit the turnovers), and this was hardly a resounding victory by any means. Indeed, linebacker kitty is on record as being disappointed with both the result and the play leading up to it. But – as I noted elsewhere – my impression of the game in retrospect is that Tennessee came in looking for a moral victory, and Florida was satisfied to give it to them – so long as UF gained the actual victory. One glance at the blood-price paid already this season by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and USC reminds me to appreciate the ‘W’, however it arrives.
Well, I know a six-game winning streak against Tennessee, and the lead all-time sure help me sleep easier at night. But if moral victories are sufficient for a once-proud program and its fans, I guess you’re welcome to them.
Game Over.
You win.
"A player who conjugates a verb in the first person singular cannot be part of the squad, he has to conjugate the verb in the first person plural. We. We want to conquer. We are going to conquer. Using the word 'I' when you're in a group makes things complicated." ~ Wanderley Luxemburgo, 1999
Your six game winning streak proves we're not proud anymore.
And haven’t been for years. But for ten months TEN MONTHS all we’ve heard is how bad Florida is going to beat us. And all the talk from Meyer about ‘a win is a win’ rings hollow after he stomped on Georgia with a hob-nailed boot last season. No Florida fan wanted to disagree with every pundit in the nation this week before the game who was talking about the upcoming beatdown. Now that the conversation has switched against you, they’re all wrong eh? As I said, rationalize it however you like.
Nonsense
The difference between Georgia and Tennessee is Florida called timeouts against Georgia at the end of the game because they could.
Calling timeouts at the end of the game when you are up 10 points would look sort of ridiculous.
But anyone who believes that Urban Meyer didn’t want to beat UT by 70 points is kidding themselves. He wanted to. He couldn’t.
Yeah, yall won. Good win. Better team. But when is Kiffin gonna get the inevitable retribution for the wrongs he has committed? Who is going to shut Kiffin up? My oh my whatever will you do when Kiffin starts beating you? Get ready. it won’t be long.
And, yes, UT did expose Florida.
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Eric Berry is better at football than you
Did you have money on the game?
I did. And I won. That helped me sleep.
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Eric Berry is better at football than you
No dog in this fight,
but I agree with Peachy Rex. Offensively, Tennessee played this game like they were Tennessee Tech – more interested in running clock than scoring points. Despite that, they were one play (the Tebow fumble at the five) from getting blown out anyway. The Gators weren’t sharp, probably from underscheduling. Fortunately, they could ease into conference play against a team from the bottom third of the league and work out the kinks for the several bigger challenges down the road.
Lots of Vol fans are chirpping about the future of the series, but there was only one team in the Swamp with 13 senior starters (8 O, 5 D), and it wasn’t the team that walked off the field winners… again.
by GwinnettGamecock on Sep 20, 2009 12:56 AM EDT reply actions
If Florida could have moved the ball at will on offense...
…then UT would have been blown out despite their conservative play calling.
This is the truth.
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Eric Berry is better at football than you
But you're missing the real story of yesterday's game
We get to see what the Gator Hype-O-Meter looks like when it moves below 98.
Also, as a secondary angle, I expect to have a little more company rating Bama #1 in the Power Poll. I would claim it as validation for the resume-based approach to the poll, except that I was never trying to make predictions so claiming predictive value for non-predictions would be self-refuting. I think, also.
Well,
The power poll is a power poll, so it shouldn’t be based on resume alone. But you’re right, you won’t be alone with having Bama at 1.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
I don't get caught up in the polls much
Last season, we weren’t ranked #1 until after our final game. That’s fine with me. We looked beatable on Saturday, that is a fact. We also have a weak schedule. So go ahead and rank us 4th or 5th if that makes you feel better.
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